_c._ Pills composed of powdered iron, jalap resin, jalap powder, and marsh mallow powder, made into a mass with some bitter extract. Each pill weighs 0·1 gramme. _d._ Calming Pastilles are thick, hard tablets, composed of sugar, with oil of anise, and coloured with liquorice juice. (Hager.) =AKUSTICON= (an ear essence). A proved remedy for every kind of ear disease, by Pserhofer. This may be imitated by dissolving in common glycerine one fifth of its weight of fir tar, filtering, and adding a few drops of cajeput oil dissolved in spirit (Hager.) =AL-.= [Ar.] An inseparable article equivalent to the English _the_. It is found in many chemical and other words derived from the Arabic; as alchemy, alcohol, alembic, almanac, &c. =AL′ABASTER.= _Syn._ ALBÂTRE, Fr.; =Alabas′ter=, =Alabastri′tes=, =Alabas′trum=, L. A soft, white species of calcareous and of gypseous stone, used by sculptors. There are several varieties, all of which may be ranged under two heads:—— 1. CALCA′′REOUS ALABASTER; ORIENT′AL, A.; CALC-SIN′TER. A sub-variety of carbonate of calcium, formed by the deposition of calcareous particles in the caverns of limestone rocks. It has a foliated, fibrous, or granular structure, and a pure, soft, rich, semi-translucent whiteness, generally agreeably variegated with undulating zones or stripes of various shades of yellow, red, or brown. This variety is that most esteemed by sculptors, and for the manufacture of alabaster ornaments. The ancients used it for ointment and perfume boxes. At the baths of San Filippo (Tuscany), the process of its formation may be examined by the observer. The natural spring of boiling water holds carbonate of lime in solution by means of sulphuretted hydrogen, which, escaping into the air, leaves the lime as a precipitate, which is gradually deposited in a concrete form. (M. Alex. Brogniart.) 2. GYP′SEOUS OR COMMON ALABASTER; GYPSUM. A natural hydrated sulphate of calcium, containing a little carbonate of calcium. That from the quarries of the Paris basin contains about 12% of the latter substance. When calcined or roasted, and powdered, it forms the substance known under the name of PLASTER OF PARIS. The more compact, fine-grained specimens of this variety are, like the preceding one, sculptured into almost numberless articles of ornament and utility, such as vases, clock-stands, statuettes, &c. The inferior kinds only are manufactured into the ‘plaster of Paris’ of the shops. The best specimens are obtained from the lower beds of the gypsum quarries, and are white, and granular, not unlike Carrara marble. It takes a high polish; but from its softness and liability to become discoloured, articles formed of it require more careful treatment than even those of ‘calcareous alabaster.’